‘Previously Saved Version’: An intriguing premise gets lost in space

Many people in failing relationships have probably looked back and wondered if they could rewind to a point before it all went wrong. It’s wishful thinking, ignoring the reality that people change and grow apart, and there’s no timeline in which everything works out perfectly. But, you know — what if?

When we first meet Naoki (Hideaki Ito) and Mayumi (Yuko Araki), they’re enjoying a domestic bliss so flawless, it’s instantly suspect. Mayumi spends her days in a pottery studio while her husband, a robotics genius, does whatever it is that robotics geniuses do. The only thing that sets them apart from today’s super-rich is that it’s the year 2200 and they’re living in outer space, in a sprawling residence that they seem to have all to themselves.

Their main contact with the outside world comes via virtual reality, which they use to have regular consultations with Mayumi’s doctor (Long Mizuma). She’s suffering from amnesia, you see, having apparently spent several years in a coma after surviving a tsunami. That’s also why Naoki suggests it’s a little too soon for a trip back to Earth.

Readers averse to spoilers might want to look away now, though the title of Kei Ishikawa’s “Previously Saved Version” is already a big giveaway. It transpires that Mayumi is a synthetic recreation of Naoki’s late wife, based on backups of her memories, and the scientist has been obsessively resurrecting earlier versions to find one that still loves him. Each time he detects an aberration, he violently dispatches the droid and orders a new model (why he can’t just do a fresh install is anyone’s guess).

Charlie Kaufman might have had fun with a premise like that, but the psychodrama that follows is more reminiscent of early-1990s thrillers such as “Sleeping With the Enemy,” only less exciting. Co-writing with Brad Wright — a “Stargate” franchise veteran who’s also credited for the film’s story — Ishikawa delivers a movie that’s attractive to look at but never more than mildly engaging.

The futuristic setting is lavishly realized for something so sketchily conceived. Apparently the wealthy have left Earth, having deemed it uninhabitable, although it looks perfectly fine in the flashbacks we see of Naoki and Mayumi’s earlier life together. We never get to meet the rest of the extraterrestrial elite. It’s not even clear why the story needed to be set in space: any off-grid mega mansion or private island would have done the job fine.

“Previously Saved Version” was filmed in Thailand with Ishikawa’s regular cinematographer, Piotr Niemyjski, and a predominantly local crew, supplemented by a Canadian visual effects team. It’s full of artful lighting and sumptuous color schemes, plus a lot of expensive-looking VFX shots that serve little narrative purpose.

In the manner of indie directors who get tapped to helm Hollywood blockbusters, there’s a sense that the scale of the project has overwhelmed Ishikawa’s natural talents as a filmmaker. The movie has little of the nuance and character detail that the director brought to his acclaimed 2022 drama, “A Man.”

This wouldn’t be a problem in a film with bigger ideas, but “Previously Saved Version” doesn’t seem particularly interested in grappling with the great intangibles, either. When Mayumi finally learns that she’s an android, she’s remarkably unfazed. She’s probably already imagining a better version of the story you’re watching.